25/09-07   -   Press releases

Attractive high-growth Company: Strüngmann Brothers invest in eHealth Specialist ICW

Hexal founders Strüngmann secured a 25 percent share in the eHealth specialist InterComponentWare AG (ICW). This transaction was performed by the purchase of newly issued shares in the context of an increase in capital stock. The present owners of ICW do not surrender any shares in this transaction.

ICW will invest its newly acquired funds into the further expansion of its leading position in the international eHealth market. The company is one of the internationally active eHealth pioneers and offers a very broad range of solutions focusing on citizens respectively patients.

ICW pursues two strategic approaches to improve communication and thus also quality and efficiency in the health care system: First of all, it supports the introduction of ubiquitous secure health care IT infrastructures with electronic health cards and personal health records. At the beginning of 2007, ICW was awarded the pilot project for the introduction of the national electronic health card in Bulgaria. The company also conducts a field test for the electronic health card in Germany since 2005, which includes the personal health record LifeSensor. The LifeSensor technology is also applied in the BARMER research project, in which Germany´s largest health insurance company will offer its approx. 7 million insurants a personal health record.

ICW´s second strategic approach is to network medical professionals in medical practices and hospitals with each other. PPV, for example, a Bavarian physician´s network, uses ICW solutions to give its approximately 350 members a comprehensive view of their patients´ medical data. Heidelberg University Hospital also opted for a solution developed by ICW to network with its partner hospitals. This solution also incorporates patients and resident physicians into the improved data flow.
"The trust of our new investors in ICW shows that we are pursuing the right strategy and that our solutions have a large national and international market potential", explains ICW´s CEO Peter Reuschel. The Strüngmann brothers are also absolutely convinced that ICW will continue to expand its position in the global eHealth market: "We opted for an investment in ICW, because it is in a perfect position to assert itself in the high-growth global eHealth market with its open platform approach and mature solutions. With its networking solutions, ICW has the potential to make the national and global health care market more efficient. We want to support and accompany this process", explain the Strüngmann brothers.